A Week In The Life of an MIT Student..

<p>Would any current or recent grads of MIT like to share what a typical week at MIT was like. How much sleep did you get, hours on hw, hanging with friends, in class, etc?</p>

<p>In a typical weekday, I would have class from about 9-2 and work at my UROP from 2-6. I had cheerleading from 8-10 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but on Mondays and Wednesdays I would go home after lab.</p>

<p>It's hard for me to separate hours spent with friends and hours spent doing homework, because those were often the same -- my friends and I would drag our books and problem sets out into our floor's lounge and work and watch TV and chat. Many of us cooked dinner together, as well, and we would take late-night snack runs when everybody was tired of working. So overall I "did homework" 3-4 hours on the average night, but that was punctuated with periods of talking and being silly with the people I lived with.</p>

<p>I got about 7 hours of sleep on average my junior and senior years (and yes, I have the statistics to back that up). I got much less sleep as a freshman, because I didn't know how to manage my time effectively.</p>

<p>I took Friday nights off every week even in my most crazy, stressful terms. I took most Saturdays off completely, except in the terms when I was taking heavy courseloads when I needed to put in work on Saturday afternoons. I made it a priority to have free Friday and Saturday nights to hang out with my friends, go to parties, go on dates, etc.</p>

<p>When you say class from 9-2, what did you do for lunch?</p>

<p>How effective is it to be with friends while doing HW? Unless you are working on psets together, it seems like it would be difficult to get things done.</p>

<p>Oh, I usually had a one-hour lunch break. I actually mean that I had something like class from 9-11, lunch from 11-12, class from 12-1, class from 1-2.</p>

<p>There were a few days in a few terms that I didn't have a lunch, and on those days I'd just grab something quick and eat in my next class -- MIT classes start five minutes after the hour and end five minutes before the hour, so there's enough time to grab a sandwich and chips and haul it to your next class. Otherwise I'd grab lunch on my way to my UROP. (There were also terms where I had a two-hour lunch one day a week, and on those days I'd eat and then go to the library and read or nap, or else take the T into Boston and sit and enjoy life on Boston Common. Those were good lunches.)</p>

<p>And of course it's not all that effective to be with friends while doing homework, unless they're doing the same problem set you are, perhaps. So if I really needed to do something, I'd strap myself down to my desk chair and work. But at the very least, I'd keep my door open so people could stop by to chat -- I mean, one has to work, but one also has to not go insane. :)</p>

<p>On Tuesdays, I have classes from 9am-5pm, with a half-hour break inbetween somewhere. On the flip side, my MWF are only 12-2, haha.</p>

<p>I always sit in the lounge to do my homework, which is where everyone else is. Even if we're working on separate p-sets, all I have to do is put on some good headphones and enter my own little bubble, where I am just as efficient at working as if I were by myself. On occasion I will feel the need to by physically away from everything, so I'll retreat to the dining hall. I absolutely can't work in my room at all, so just find what works for you and go for it. No one will think you're antisocial because everyone else understands you've gotta do what you've gotta do, haha ;D</p>

<p>great thanks for the replies, anyone else have input?</p>

<p>10char....</p>

<p>instead of offering details for the week, may I just offer a few details for a weekend? (more specifically just one night of that weekend--last night)
1. pumpkin drop at midnight--awesome
2. Kappa Sigma Blacklight Party--awesome, apart from the fact that arriving after 11pm meant really really really long wait to get in
3. dealing with the drenching rain & 'awesome' bostonian weather--very not fun</p>

<p>^ well, the weather was good until Sunday night, when the skies opened and rained water and pumpkins.</p>

<p>you should check out the blog on MIT website. MIT</a> Admissions: Meet The Bloggers
There is entry about coursework and life in campus. I found it quite useful. It is more detailed than my son told me what he is doing in school.</p>

<p>lol yeah good thing my parents don't read my blog.</p>

<p>Weekend nights vary from 1) staying in and chilling with friends and working on homework or watching a movie, 2) going out around Boston, or 3) partying at a frat or in the dorms. I've been doing more of the latter, admittedly, though I want to do more of number 2 and have a feeling I will shift more to numbers 1 and 2 next semester once the glamor of being a big cool college kid has worn off.</p>